How do we save those who believe that "Hope" is only a place between Here and Hell ?

R U OK M8 ?

Since the apparently sudden suicide of Chester Bennington (front-man for Linkin Park), I've been thinking about the statement made by so many of his friends and fans; "I didn't see it coming...".  It is a refrain made by many of the closest confidants of people who finally lost that last shred of hope.

I don't subscribe to the belief that a personal non-aggressive* suicide results in eternal damnation in the way that the various Faithful claim.  No.  What I *do* believe is that whatever your Faith, you will suffer in the hereafter for eternity, but not from an external source.  Rather, you have to face eternity with the knowledge of the pain you caused to those who loved and needed you.

(*ie: "non-aggressive suicide" is to end your own life only, and not intentionally kill anyone else with you.  Euthanasia is whole other ball of wax, and well beyond the scope of this post...)

How arrogant are we that believe that we can stand Judge over the ending of the life of another ?  (Not to get preachy, but look it up...)

Rather my personal view is that non-aggressive suicide is not the act of a sane or mentally balanced person.

I have been part of the crowd who called suicide the coward's way out; that it takes courage to face life.  I no longer believe that.  Intentional non-aggressive suicide is the act of a person who believes there is no hope to be found in this universe... ie: a state of absolute despair and desolation.

Dante Alighieri's view of Hell depicted the worst of humanity, but I believe the punishment of of those who commit suicide is not accurate. Eternal emotional and psychological pain derived from knowing how your suicide impacted others would be far worse than any physical assault.

And so we return to the trigger, despair, and the question, why? (asked by those left behind).

They do not know why because they missed the signs and did not ask; "R U OK?".

Look up the campaign or talk to any of a host of counselling services globally for help in knowing the signs and when and how to ask.

Do not let another "One More Light" moment (see LP's album of the same name) occur if you could have prevented it.

RIP Chester.

Footnote: For me, the saddest part of the story of Chester is that the signs were there, but very few realised how bad it was, or if they did then they did not know what to do.... There is a reason that "suicide watch" is a thing folks... (and no, I am most definitely NOT blaming anyone for how Chester's last days played out.)

Disclaimer: I have no association with LP beyond being a fan. I have no association with RUOK? Limited, nor any other organisation or charity. . No endorsements should be inferred from  the information presented. I am not making any implied statement of support for or criticism of suicide in any form.  The information is presented for educational purposes only.  It should be noted that both suicide and euthanasia are listed as "illegal" acts in many jurisdictions, and may have consequences for both the deceased and those left behind.... (but remember, I'm not a lawyer...)

Anti-Democratic Laws in the Guise of "National Security"

I won't belabour the point. The headline is far from "news". (We've been living with this idiocy since "9/11" spawned the PATRIOT Act in the USA.  No, this is not one of "those" articles.)

True democracy is dying at the hands of the far right across the world.

Here's a simple question.  How do YOU as an individual get a voice in the government of your country ?

The majority of people will answer with the over-simplistic "at the ballot box"or "by my vote".  Sorry, but that would only work if all our votes were of equal value and ANY person in an electorate could realistically stand as a candidate, garner enough votes and enter one of the houses of government with an equal voice.  That is not the truth and you should know it.

Ignoring the whole "1 vote, 1 value" issue, most of us live in countries where there is effectively a 2 party system.  Yes, there are other political parties, but as has become patently clear, the ruling parties will do whatever they can to eliminate or render impotent such groups.

Now we're seeing active attacks on the ability of citizens to gather and create a unified voice.  Don't forget that they have effectively neutered the trade unions and cut off protesting at the knees.

Don't misunderstand, I agree that agents of foreign interests should not be able to derail the electoral process.  But.... We already have a reasonable reporting requirement in place for "substantial" contributions (currently $13,500 until June 2018).  So why require small donations to lobby groups to be recorded?  There can be only one purpose in that; to make it economically nonviable to collect small sums. Of course it'll have almost no impact on the companies who have been using the lobbying scam for decades.  But they don't like it when Joe Public decides to use the same means to fight back.

If you do not want to lose your somewhat limited access to voices in the nation's houses of parliament, then you should read what is being done to your rights.

Here's a few possible starting points:

• Google search AU (Australia)
• GetUp (Australia)
• Independent Australia
• Google search NZ  (New Zealand)
• Popular Resistance (USA)

Don't believe it, or don't want to believe it ?

True "Democracy" has been in the hands of the wealthy elites since before any of us were born. What little influence we have is being "lawyered" away faster than our nearly nonexistent "rights".

I can't speak for anyone else, but if one more politician uses the "T" word to justify some soul crushing Law, I think maybe that we should reconsider our options, and NOT vote for him next time around.